Raise a cheer, ladies and gentlemen and Gentle Readers everywhere, the holidays are over!
Of course that means we'll have to find an excuse to explain our drinking to excess.
Oh never mind, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere.
And there's one thing the holidays have taught us.
Is that a creak I hear?
Oh no, it's a groan spreading around the globe.
I'll just ignore that and urge you and yours to have a great weekend!
And always remember to Keep Laughing!!!
Here, kitty-kitty . . .
Catalyst, SWMBO and their duplex next door neighbor really know how to wake up the neighborhood.
Actually it's our landlord and their management company that did it.
Today was the day when our HVAC units were replaced.
That involved two technicians who went up and down a ladder to the roof many, many times.
And this thing.
It arrived at about noon and was soon anchored in our driveway.
The reason for those heavy-duty anchors extending from the four corners of the truck soon became apparent.
The crane operator skillfully lifted our new "heater/cooler" effortlessly into the air, up, up, up and onto the roof.
The techs were there, having scrambled up the ladder again, to guide it into place, unlash it and wrap up the old unit.
The entire intricate dance was then repeated as my neighbor, Bill, had his unit replaced.
It's the 2nd of January.
Last night as I was turning in, I asked mein frau if she was going to have a difficult time getting used to the idea that tomorrow (today) was not Monday.
Having holidays mucking around with the weekends does tend to throw one for a loop.
Heck, some people were still celebrating the New Year today, I hear.
For some of us it is a time to make resolutions about how to improve our lives over the coming year.
For others . . .
I gave up making resolutions many New Year's ago.
Part of the joy of senescence is realizing it's probably too late to make much or any difference.
So Happy January Third tomorrow . . the first Monday of the New Year.
(groan)
We have long since given up staying awake to see a new year come into being.
In fact I didn't even make it until 2022 reached the east coast of the United States last night, some two hours ahead of here in Arizona.
So I was surprised this morning to see what the young cherub had brought with him.
Just tickling the shrubbery, the rooftops, the streets and the hills, it produced a nice panorama in the fresh morning light.
And that brings us to my second topic today.
You will recall my railing on about a recent jigsaw puzzle with a puzzling missing piece.
A piece that I opined had been left out of the mix when the pieces (499 of them) were sealed in the box.
The deviousness, the cravenness, the sheer maddening meanness of the shipper that would do such a thing.
Her Nibs, the daughter who gifted us this puzzle, criticized me harshly, insisting that the piece would be found in one of my pockets or shoes or on a nearby shelf or still in the packaging.
Well, yesterday SWMBO (the giftor's mother) took the puzzle apart and boxed it up and I took down the card table and put it away.
And a bit later, what did she discover?
Here it is at last.
The final day of 2021, or as Queen Elizabeth might say, another annus horribilis.
Another year of Covid, storms, fires, heat, cold and capped off by my terrible experience with a jigsaw puzzle.
But enough about that.
Let us gird our loins, hitch up our bootstraps, lift up our chins and charge merrily and boldly into 2022.
Just watch your heads.
And so, as the band plays off into the distance, we bid a not-so-fond adieu to another year and gaze hopefully into the future.
Now remember, it's a time for one last wonderful weekend full of oysters, champagne, egg nog, steak and lobster, and sweets beyond compare.
Sweets like the dessert prepared by my friend in Colorado, Jolly Jeanne, aka Beaner, recently.
It's all edible, including the stars, and I won't trouble you with the ingredients but will tell you it makes SWMBO's teeth hurt just to hear about them.
So enjoy, Happy New Year and always recall to keep laughing!
Here, kitty-kitty . . .
Remember, if you will, what I said about the jigsaw puzzle ODD (Our Demented Daughter) forced on us as a Christmas "gift" this year.
Remember, if you will, what I said about a piece possibly left missing.
The puzzle was completed a few moments ago.
Here is a picture of the insane enigma some mad artist created.
As noted by careful readers of at least one message on the refrigerator door of my wife's daughter yesterday, the BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter) does have a vicious streak.
It was expressed cruelly at her Christmas Eve brunch when she presented her mother with an unexpected gift.
A jigsaw puzzle.
She knows, oh yes she knows, how I hate jigsaw puzzles.
I can't stay away from them, no matter how hard I try to ignore them.
So there I go again, erecting the card table for SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) to dump out the pieces and begin the work.
I hide in front of my computer or try to watch a football game on the television but eventually my eyes are drawn to that damnable mess on the table in the kitchen.
The BRD's refrigerator door recently.
Does it reflect the lady?
I think so.
(If you can't read the words, clicking on the picture will embiggen it.)
Not to be outdone by Carol the Comic, one of my other main contributors to the Oddball Comedy Vault, Wacky Wally, has chimed in with several holiday offerings.
Behold!
